March2013 New year, new trimester, old symptoms but the finishing post is in sight!

[Oodsigma]

And confuddled has passed it!

So will this one be our last before we move to post natal?

And who is next?

Thanks sarah & jojo for the thread title. :)

Some MW say 1/5 engaged and some say 1/5 palpable so you're probably both right!

Oh great - just to add to our overall confusion?!

I was up half the night with mildly painful contractions which then stopped and now nothing

It's progress leni easy to say when it's not you waiting

Ooh, Leni, that sounds like progress - even if it's stopped for now it's still everything getting ready... Each contraction has to be a step closer to baby time!

I think 4/5ths palpable is the same as 1/5 engaged - ie if they can feel 4/5 of baby's head, then the remaining 1/5 is engaged in pelvis? Anyway, I wasn't very far along!

Things are happening today though - nothing I'd call a contraction as so irregular and mild but the odd wave of pain, and the biggest BH I've ever had just now - but didn't hurt. Bump has gone v hard. No longer feel - like I did last week - as if the baby was planning to stay forever, although I suspect I'm still a wee while off.

Glad I'm seeing the midwife this PM - she's v lovely but no nonsense, and will tell me (if i ask) if it's something or if I'm imagining things!

Fingers crossed for you Tea - hope she can give you an idea of how long it's likely to be!

Keep us updated

Tea - it stills comes as a surprise that you're going to be a mum even after the baby's born! People keep referring to my daughter by name, and every time I think "Zoë, Zoë... Who the hell is Zoë...? Oh shit, yeah, that's my daughter."

Leni - make the most of the time lounging about in bed. You'll miss it.

Last night I went to my dad's just to get some sleep (because the slightest whimper from the baby wakes me up). Got up at 11.30 this morning (bliss and heaven!), checked facebook, and found a photo of the baby posing with a ukulele. Good to know she had fun with her dad last night!

We have a pink ukelele custom made by a friend, not sure my OH would consider posing the boy with it though! I'd think it was hilarious

He wouldn't let me paint nutella on my bump to look like an easter egg either...

I so need to time baby number two so I have a decent sized bump at Easter so I can do that!

Give the uke posing a try, it really makes you realise how small these babies are, as well as being ridiculously cute. Mad to think that one day she'll be big enough for the ESP, and eventually she'll even be able to handle the six string bass (unless she inherits my midget hands, of course ).

Ladies, the baby has actually reversed out of my pelvis. For two weeks, I've been 4/5 palpable. Now baby is 'free' again. Clearly, I'm never, ever going to give birth - wonder how it works with paid maternity leave if you just stay pregnant forever?

No sweeps, no exams - no point! But midwife did take me seriously on the irregular twinges etc front, and agrees that seems like my body is getting ready for something. Presumably the longest gestation in human history.

If I haven't given birth by Tuesday, she's going to come round to my house as her clinics are only on a Friday, and I'll be offered a sweep then. Somehow really odd thinking of that happening at home!

I write this balancing on a birthing ball, contemplating curried pineapple and jumping on DH.

Bought a cake on the way home from the midwife. Felt like the best plan.

Ukulele picture sounds adorable Stormy - and I love the name Zoë.

Any progress with you, Leni? Nutella bump is genius. Although in my current mood would probably just eat the nutella out of the jar.

Crikey, did MW say if that happens a lot?

I'm sure none of my walking/bouncing/curry eating is doing any good at all...

My friend started giving birth and then the baby just got sucked back up - god knows what that's about. Hopefully that won't happen to us

The sweep really isn't a big deal, I'd love not to have to trek to the birth centre! It only takes a minute. Also much nicer to be able to rest straight after

Oh and no progress here. One contraction earlier but pretty painless

Didn't go for the nutella yet, maybe if I did baby would come really fast so I'd have to explain to the MW why I'm covered in chocolate spread...

Yeah, it would be nice her coming here really - esp if sweep is sore! And house is generally reasonably respectable, will resist urge to tidy up for her!

She didn't say if happened often, seemed mildly surprised but not concerned. She does always have difficulty feeling what's going on - asked today if I had really strong stomach muscles. Which amused me. No. Think flab might be the real culprit... So perhaps one of them was inaccurate? Ah well. Cake has succeeded in boosting morale.

Ha! I love the idea of explaining nutella to a MW!

Yeah, I'm convinced that whole "baby descending into pelvis and staying there for a while before birth" thing is bollocks. Mine was up and down like a bloody yoyo, until four days before being born, when she dropped so far so fast I'm surprised there wasn't an audible 'thunk'.

Leni, remember, that one contraction earlier is one contraction closer to baby! Unfortunately there are still a lot more of the buggers to get through, and I'm guessing they're not all going to be painless...

Stormy -thank you, you've made me feel a lot better!

Baby can not engage until birth. Only one of mine tried although all were sections so can't talk from experience.

More reassurance - thanks Ood.

Ok so I had what I'm guessing is a bloody show - OH wasn't very happy to be shown whilst cooking mince that's for sure!

Got same sort of slightly painful contractions again now, starting low and moving up until belly is all hard.

I had heard they don't always engage until birth - didn't know they could go back up though - how does that work ?!

I'm trying to imagine this pain multiplied times a lot, but it's not an easy concept...

The pain, hmm. Because you don't go from nothing straight to mega-contractions-of-doom, it's not that bad - it builds up and you just sort of get used to it gradually getting worse. Very hard to quantify pain too, which makes it harder to imagine. You might surprise yourself with how you cope with it, anyway - I remember expecting the pain to get many times worse and wondering how the hell I'd cope with it because it was getting seriously painful already. Turned out that was because I was 8cm dilated, as opposed to just getting started.

As for how babies go down and then back up - it's not like they're duct-taped into position once they're engaged (because duct tape + babies is apparently child abuse, alas). So I'm guessing they head back up the same way they go down?

Are you timing these contractions at all?

I was breathing through my contractions for hours. Got TENS going when they started to feel quite uncomfy as it takes an hour or 2 for your body to get used to it as a pain blocker. You then turn up the intensity - was incredible, at first anything over 2 on the Tens (the scale goes to 15) was painful but by the end I was on 8 or 9.

When I got to the MLU they asked if I wanted to talk about pain managemet and I said if I was only 1cm then to get me the Pethadine, but I was 5cm so that felt OK. But everyone is different!

Good luck if this is the start leni

Ooh, and I found a contraction timing app invaluable as I was not able to think straight enough to remember times and do maths by the time it was relevant.

Fingers crossed for you Leni - that today will be it!!!! You then can have baby in your arms while eating a Easter egg or 2!
I have tonsillitis so the thought of eating is causing me pain!
While really ill tried baby girl on bottle she screamed for ages!!!!
Oh boy not this again!!!! She refusing taken bottle from me!!!!! Which doesn't help now DH is back at work and mobile all day meeting clients!

Hi all, just a quick pop in to wave at those who remember me and to say that I had a little girl three weeks earlier than expected on 12th Feb. congratulations all who have their newborns and good luck to those still awaiting the stork. Xx

Morning Leni, how are you this morning? Any sleep last night?

Congrats Dame!

I'm now planning nice things to do every day over the Easter weekend, both to try to distract myself and tempt fate...

Congrats Dame!

Morning Tea, more broken sleep here although with less wee wake ups. How about you?

Still leaking various fluids which is glorious, wore my attractive incontinence pants to bed in case waters broke but no cigar. Do you find it strange when turning over in bed and feeling 7 pounds (and some) of baby sliding across your organs?

Not sure if my poor ligaments can physically hold this bump up much longer!

Weekend plans are a great idea, I feel like a slug though so motivation is zero, still lying in bed thinking about how hungry/thirsty for my morning tea i am rather than bothering to go and make it... OH is spark out because he's been having a lovely full 8 hrs plus every night (grrrr!).

So. Bored.

Didn't sleep brilliantly, but not too bad - two 2hr + chunks and then about an hour at a time. DH still getting up for work just after 6, and I can never get back to sleep after that, so go back to bed after breakfast and knit/read for a bit.

Incontinence pants a good idea - although I'm currently thinking the more prepared I am the less likely it is to happen...

Determined to keep chin up today, so just about to get up/dressed in least unflattering clothes/put proper make up on, walk (waddle) into town to join the library and sign up for a dentist, and this afternoon I'm going to make cushion covers with bits left over from hemming the curtains.

Yes, I'm bored and making plans to save sanity...Half tempted to phone work and see if I can do an early keep in touch day - they're clearly really busy from what I can see on Twitter. Resisting so far!

The sliding baby thing is odd - I can't feel it go over my organs, but just a sort of 'flump' when I turn over. And it hurts. Tempted to fit a winch to the ceiling if I go much further over!

No meaningful pains etc today - just a pretty constant low level ache. Ah well.